Laura Wingert won’t let money steer her toward a certain medical profession, but she knows it will influence where she begins her career.

A second-year student at the Commonwealth Medical College, the Hanover Twp. native envisions joining a pediatrics practice in Northeast Pennsylvania.

But like her classmates, Ms. Wingert realizes that leaving Pennsylvania to practice in an underserved area in any neighboring state will help her erase her more than $170,000 in student debt much faster.

“I think loan forgiveness would be a huge part in my decision-making process,” said Ms. Wingert, who is expected to graduate in 2017. “It would be super helpful to have somebody helping me along the way, especially since I might not make as large of a salary as certain specialists. … It would be pretty persuasive for me.”

At a time when tuition costs skyrocket, many young physicians in Pennsylvania either pursue higher-paying jobs in major cities or practice in states that offer more generous loan repayment programs, leaving a growing disparity between access to health care and demand in the state’s medically underserved communities.

Only 58 percent of the physicians who completed their undergraduate medical education and primary care residency training in Pennsylvania stayed in the state to practice, the 37th lowest rate nationwide, according to a 2013 Association of American Medical Colleges report.

Carrying on average $169,901 in student debt, many seek financial relief by moving to neighboring states, such as New Jersey, Virginia or Ohio, where they can receive as much as $120,000 in loan repayments in exchange for practicing in an underserved area for four years.

Pennsylvania maxes out at $64,000 over four years. New York offers up to $150,000 over five years.

“Every state bordering Pennsylvania has a loan repayment program that is more generous than Pennsylvania’s,” TCMC Dean Steven Scheinman, M.D., said. “And so if the goal of loan repayment is to attract physicians when they finish their training to come to an underserved area of the state, … Pennsylvania’s loan repayment program, at its maximum, is only going to repay about one-third of the average debt.

“If somebody goes to the suburbs of Pennsylvania in a high-end specialty, they can augment their salary by much more than $64,000 more than they will make in Montrose.”

With the state’s aging population and wave of newly insured residents expected to intensify the demand for health care services, the Pennsylvania Medical Society advocated for a $4 million increase to the primary health care practitioner line item in the state’s 2014-15 budget. Such an increase would provide enhanced loan repayment for 70 health care practitioners and fund an additional 12 primary care residency slots for students who commit to practice in rural and urban areas.

The $29 billion state budget Gov. Tom Corbett signed in July included an additional $1 million under the line item, though it’s unclear how it will be allocated.

“We are still relatively early in the process and we are reviewing the best possible ways to utilize funding the program receives,” state Department of Health spokesman Wes Culp said in a statement.

On the program’s page, a sentence in capitalized bold red letters reads: “Applications are not currently being accepted,” a sign of the dried-up funding.

“It means, ‘We spent all the money that was available in the budget, and we are thrilled you’re interested, but we are sorry we don’t have any more money to help you,’” said Scot Chadwick, legislative counsel for the medical society. “That’s what that means. And it’s sad.”

He said the increased funding represents a step forward, and that both medical schools and health care organizations continue to brainstorm ways to retain young primary care physicians, such as developing scholarships.

He cited Pennsylvania’s volume of primary care residents and students enrolled in undergraduate medical education — ranked fifth and fourth per capita nationwide, respectively — as evidence of the state’s young talent.

“We bring the kids here, we teach them and we train them. We have the resources, we just have to keep them,” he said. “We are clearly training world-class physicians. We just aren’t keeping them.”

Contact the writer:

miorfino@timesshamrock.com, @miorfinoTT on Twitter

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.

Think you have the cutest pet in NEPA? Share a photo of your furry companion and you could win prizes from our sponsors! Deadline to submit an entry is March 19, and voting will take place from March 20-March 31.